Wikipedia

ZCMI Center Mall

The ZCMI Center Mall was a shopping mall in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, that operated from 1975 to 2007, before being demolished to make way for City Creek Center. The mall was developed and owned by Zions Securities Corporation, a for-profit entity owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The mall was located kitty-corner from the church's Temple Square.

ZCMI Center Mall
An aerial view of the mall, 1978
Map
LocationSalt Lake City, Utah
United States
Coordinates40°46′6″N 111°53′23″W / 40.76833°N 111.88972°W / 40.76833; -111.88972
Opening dateJuly 17, 1975 (limited)
September 22, 1975 (grand opening)
Closing date2007
OwnerZions Securities Corporation (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
ArchitectGruen Associates
Public transit accessCity Center Station

The name, ZCMI, is an acronym for Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution, an early American department store founded by the LDS Church in 1868 and headquartered on the mall's site for many decades. ZCMI would be the mall's major tenant, which, at the time of its opening, was the largest downtown mall in the United States.[1] Soon after the mall opened, another downtown shopping mall, Crossroads Plaza, was built directly across the street.

Location

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The mall covered the majority of block 75, which is bounded by Main Street on the west, South Temple on the north, State Street on the east, and 100 South on the south. ZCMI first opened a store at this site on April 1, 1876,[2] allowing it to consolidate different departments into one structure; although, over time, the institution would expand to a number of buildings on the block.

Construction

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In May 1969, the LDS Church announced plans to develop a shopping mall on the block, which would replace ZCMI's ageing conglomerate of buildings. The mall would be anchored by a modern, much larger, ZCMI store. The plan, already under development for 10 years prior to the announcement, called for demolishing many of the buildings on the block, except for those on the corners, and included building an office tower.[3][4]

Among the buildings demolished for the mall was Salt Lake City's Uptown Theatre,[5] and while initial plans called for building a replacement movie theater in the new mall, those plans were eventually scrapped. Deseret Book Company's headquarters and store was also razed, with replacement facilities in the new mall complex.

On October 12, 1971, pile driving started, which marked the official beginning of mall construction.[6] During construction, buildings on the southern half of the block, along with the ZCMI parking structure, were demolished first. That half of the mall was then built, after which ZCMI temporarily moved into the new southern portion. The ZCMI buildings on the north half of the block were then demolished and the remaining half of the mall was constructed, after which ZCMI then moved into permanent quarters in the north part of the mall. This allowed ZCMI to remain open during the mall's construction.[7][8] The mall was designed by Gruen Associates and construction was managed as a joint venture between Christiansen Brothers Construction and WW Clyde.[9]

Since opening in 1876, the ZCMI store building had an historic iron façade which faced Main Street. Early plans called for maintaining the "spirit and semblance" of this historic front when the buildings behind it were demolished.[3] This included either saving and restoring the façade, or fabricating a new one made to look like the original.[10] Local architect, Steven T. Baird, determined there was enough historic fabric remaining that the façade could be restored rather than replaced; a process he would oversee.[11] In October 1973, disassembly of the façade began. Old paint layers were removed and some sections of the façade had to be replaced with new cast iron.[12][13] The façade was then reconstructed, in approximately its original location, on the face of the mall's new ZCMI store.[14][15]

Several of the neighboring buildings not part of the ZCMI project, such as First Security Bank's Deseret Plaza, took the opportunity to remodel or rebuild while the mall was being constructed.[16][17][18][19] As part of transforming the block into a mall, ZCMI moved its headquarters to South Salt Lake, leaving only its flagship store downtown.[20][a]

Operations

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A UTA TRAX train passes the mall with its ZCMI Cast Iron Front during early stages of demolition, 2007

Opening

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The ZMCI Center first opened to the public on July 17, 1975. At the time only the southern half of the mall had been completed, and the only stores open that day were Joseph Magnin, Weisfield's Jewelers, and ZCMI, with additional stores opening over the following weeks.[21][22]

The grand opening was held September 22, 1975, with the mayor of Salt Lake City, Conrad B. Harrison, cutting the ribbon. Also at the ceremonies were LDS Church leaders, including N. Eldon Tanner.[23] The grand opening ceremonies lasted six days, and included an antique car parade through the complex's new six-level parking garage, and a performance by the Utah Symphony. At its opening, the mall included two levels of retail and cost $50 million (equivalent to $283,116,883 in 2023).[24]

Once the northern part of the mall was completed, Deseret Book held its grand opening on April 2, 1976 with a ribbon cutting by LDS Church president Spencer W. Kimball[25] and ZCMI—recently moved into the north portion of the mall from temporary quarters in the south portion—was opened and dedicated on September 13, 1976, also by President Kimball.[26] The completed mall had 2,000,000 square feet (190,000 m2) of space, of which 300,000 square feet (28,000 m2) was for retail.[27] Once fully occupied, the mall contained 60 stores.[26]

Beneficial Life Tower

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Included in the mall's construction was a 26-story office building. Beneficial Life Insurance Company, also owned by the LDS Church, purchased the building's top 20 floors[b] for $12 million (equivalent to $67,948,052 in 2023) and the building became known as Beneficial Life Tower. Intermountain Healthcare and Bonneville International were among other tenants of the building at its opening.[28] Beneficial Life moved into the tower in November 1975.[29] The tower included approximately 375,000 square feet (34,800 m2) of space,[27] with 18,000 square feet (1,700 m2) on each floor.[30]

When the ZCMI Center was demolished in the 2000s, the Beneficial Life Tower remained and was incorporated into City Creek Center. It was renamed as the KeyBank Tower at City Creek.[31]

Later developments

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In 1991, a tunnel was excavated under State Street to provide access between the ZCMI Center and parking structures on the block east of the mall. During the excavation, the foundations of Salt Lake City's historic Social Hall were discovered. The Social Hall Heritage Museum was then created, which displayed the foundation and discovered artifacts, while also serving as the tunnel's eastern entrance/exit.[32][33][34]

 
Entrance to the ZCMI Center Mall food court, 2004

The Park Food Court was opened in April 1992, replacing an open-air plaza that had surrounded the office tower (then known as the Kennecott Building) in the northwest corner of the block.[35]

The Utah Museum of Natural History operated the "Annex at the ZCMI Center" where a traveling Titanic exhibition titled Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition by Premier Exhibitions was hosted in 2004–2005.[36]

Demolition and replacement

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In 2003, the LDS Church purchased the neighboring Crossroads Plaza.[37] On October 8 of that year, the church presented preliminary plans to significantly remodel both Crossroads Plaza and the ZCMI Center Mall.[38][39] Three years later, on October 3, 2006, the church announced more detailed plans regarding the development.[31][40] These new plans would no longer preserve the two different downtown malls, but rather would demolish them and build a single mall, known as City Creek Center.

Demolition for the new mall started towards the end of 2006, beginning with the Inn at Temple Square on a neighboring block.[41] The final day retail stores were open in ZCMI Center was July 28, 2007 and its parking structures closed a few days later.[42] The mall's food court, which remained opened longer than its retail operations, closed on October 6, 2008.[43] City Creek Center opened in ZCMI Center's place on March 22, 2012.[44][45]

One of the mall's memorable features was a large chandelier that hung in the ZCMI store. The chandelier, which was made of Austrian glass and handblown crystal imported from Venice, Italy, weighed 3 tons and was made exclusively for the store when it opened in 1975.[citation needed] Macy's, which by 2007 owned the assets of ZCMI department stores, donated 1,500 pieces of the dismantled chandelier to various charitable organizations when the mall closed.[46] Nearly one-third went to the Daughters of Utah Pioneers.[47]

Notes

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  1. ^ The new headquarters was on 900 West, just south of the present SR-201.[20]
  2. ^ The lower six floors were part of the mall.[28]

References

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  1. ^ Arave, Lynn (October 9, 2006). "Salt Lake project has familiar ring: 'Wonderful,' 'exciting' hyped ZCMI, Crossroads in 1970s". Deseret Morning News. Salt Lake City. Archived from the original on October 23, 2006. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
  2. ^ "The Grand Opening". Deseret Evening News. Salt Lake City. April 1, 1876. p. 3. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Woodward, Don C. (May 27, 1969). "Multi-Million-Dollar Project: ZCMI Plans Downtown Mall In Dramatic New Expansion". Deseret News. Salt Lake City. pp. A1, A5. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
  4. ^ Woody, Robert H. (May 28, 1969). "ZCMI Announces Design For Downtown S.L. Mall". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City. pp. B1, B10. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  5. ^ Funk, Nancy (August 1, 1971). "Uptown Theatre entertains its last audience today after 60 colorful years". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City. pp. E1, E4. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  6. ^ "Pile Driving Starts For New ZCMI Mall". Deseret News. Salt Lake City. October 13, 1971. p. 2B. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  7. ^ "ZCMI announces move". Deseret News. Salt Lake City. May 23, 1973. p. 10E. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  8. ^ Woody, Robert H. (August 17, 1973). "Old ZCMI Nearing Demise". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City. p. D3. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  9. ^ Irvine, Arnold (June 30, 1973). "ZCMI construction nearly complete". Deseret News. Salt Lake City. p. B1. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  10. ^ Beck, David (September 6, 1971). "Architectural Furor Surrounds Future of ZCMI Old Iron Facade". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City. p. 23. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
  11. ^ Jones, Irene (August 8, 1972). "Architect to Save Unique ZCMI Iron Facade". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City. p. 15. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
  12. ^ Martz, Maxine (October 15, 1973). "ZCMI facade comes down, to go back up next year". Deseret News. Salt Lake City. pp. B1, B15. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
  13. ^ "ZCMI's 1901 facade is being restored". Deseret News. Salt Lake City. August 23, 1975. p. W7. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
  14. ^ "ZCMI front, the crown of Main St". Deseret News. Salt Lake City. November 15, 1975. p. W1. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
  15. ^ "A blending of old, new". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City. September 12, 1976. pp. M6, M8. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
  16. ^ "New Building Planned By Western Savings". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City. September 5, 1971. p. B8. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  17. ^ "Loan Firm Will Get New Home". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City. November 14, 1971. p. B25. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  18. ^ Irvine, Arnold (January 26, 1972). "Deseret Plaza To Add 4 Stories". Deseret News. Salt Lake City. p. B1. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  19. ^ "1st South Plaza Work Hums On". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City. November 16, 1972. p. B3. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  20. ^ a b Woody, Robert H. (October 24, 1973). "ZCMI Breaks Ground for New Offices". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City. p. B3. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  21. ^ "ZCMI Center open for business". Deseret News. Salt Lake City. July 17, 1975. p. B1. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  22. ^ Woody, Robert H. (July 18, 1975). "Store Makes Debut in ZCMI Mall". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City. p. C3. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  23. ^ "ZCMI mall: 'It's terrific'". Deseret News. Salt Lake City. September 22, 1975. p. B1. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  24. ^ "It'll Be a 'Grand' Opening". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City. September 21, 1975. p. 2Z. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  25. ^ "Deseret Book turns page". Deseret News. Salt Lake City. April 2, 1976. p. F11. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  26. ^ a b "The ZCMI Center dedicated". Deseret News. Salt Lake City. September 13, 1976. p. B1. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  27. ^ a b "10 years in planning stages". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City. September 12, 1976. p. 2M. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  28. ^ a b "Newest skyline addition". Deseret News. Salt Lake City. November 6, 1975. p. D8. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  29. ^ Lundstrom, Joseph (November 29, 1975). "Tower owners move into new offices". Deseret News. Salt Lake City. p. W7. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  30. ^ Irvine, Arnold (October 16, 1974). "Beneficial to buy ZCMI tower". Deseret News. Salt Lake City. pp. B1, B2. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  31. ^ a b "Downtown Redevelopment Plans Announced" (Press release). Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. October 3, 2006. Archived from the original on October 18, 2006. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  32. ^ Brown, Matthew (May 29, 1991). "Tunnel work to close down block". Deseret News. Salt Lake City. pp. A1, A2. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  33. ^ Sheffield, Sheridan R. (June 15, 1991). "Discovery of pioneer Social Hall provides a glimpse into past". Church News. Salt Lake City. pp. 11–12. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  34. ^ "Structure to house Social Hall remnants". Church News. Salt Lake City. December 28, 1991. p. 5. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  35. ^ Knudson, Max B. (April 28, 1992). "'Sandwich Cutting' Will Help ZCMI Center Launch Food Court". Deseret News. Salt Lake City. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  36. ^ "Exhibits". umnh.utah.edu. Utah Museum of Natural History. 2004. Archived from the original on October 15, 2004. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  37. ^ "Church closes deal on Crossroads". Deseret News. Salt Lake City. September 16, 2003. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  38. ^ Nii, Jenifer K. (October 8, 2003). "Church unveils plans for 2 malls". Deseret News. Salt Lake City. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  39. ^ Gurchiek, Kathy (October 9, 2003). "Downtown Vision". The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City. pp. A1, A22. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  40. ^ Smeath, Doug (October 4, 2006). "Downtown rebound: LDS Church unveils plans for 20-acre development". Deseret Morning News. Salt Lake City. Archived from the original on October 7, 2006. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  41. ^ Smeath, Doug (December 19, 2006). "Little room at the Inn". Deseret Morning News. Salt Lake City. Archived from the original on January 7, 2007. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  42. ^ Smeath, Doug (July 28, 2007). "Renovation eliminates final stores at ZCMI Center". Deseret Morning News. Salt Lake City. Archived from the original on June 19, 2024. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  43. ^ Page, Jared (September 6, 2008). "Downtown food court is closing in October". Deseret News. Salt Lake City. Archived from the original on September 6, 2008. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  44. ^ "City Creek Center Opens" (Press release). Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. March 22, 2012. Archived from the original on March 26, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  45. ^ Lee, Jasen (March 22, 2012). "City Creek Center opens amid fanfare and long lines". KSL. Salt Lake City. Archived from the original on March 24, 2012. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  46. ^ "New lease for ZCMI chandelier". Deseret Morning News. Salt Lake City. May 11, 2007. Archived from the original on January 23, 2011. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  47. ^ "ZCMI Chandelier Donated by Macy's". isdup.org. International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers. Archived from the original on July 17, 2015. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
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